In a blast from the past, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order April 15 to deliver on his 2016 campaign promises and strengthen or reinstate efforts of his first administration to drive down prescription drug prices. “My first term included numerous significant actions, including some of the most aggressive in recent history, to deliver lower prescription drug prices to American patients,” Trump noted in the order, which builds on many of those actions, including increased competition, re-importation, price transparency and a mandate to pass discounts through to patients. Read More
Antibody-drug conjugate developer Duality Biotherapeutics Inc. debuted on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) with a HK$1.64 billion (US$211.4 million) IPO April 15, making it one of the biggest offerings made under the HKEX’s Chapter 18A listing regime since 2020. Read More
Stem cell implantation is a step closer to becoming the next strategy against Parkinson's disease. Two clinical trials, one in phase I and the other in phase I/II, have demonstrated their safety and potential to restore dopamine production in the brains of patients with this currently incurable neurodegenerative condition. The number of participants in the study is still small, and further research is needed to demonstrate the clinical benefits of these cell therapies. Read More
After more than three years of discussion, the World Health Organization’s Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) has agreed on a proposal to prevent, prepare and respond to a pandemic. The plan is born, the INB proposal said, out of inequities around the world that slowed timely and equitable access to health products to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Read More
The Abu Dhabi health care company M42 is to make an investment in U.K.-based longevity specialist Juvenescence as a route to moving into drug discovery and development, with the two forming a partnership to work together on products that extend the healthy lifespan and improve the treatment of chronic diseases. Read More
China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) has accepted Innocare Pharma Ltd.’s NDA for its second-generation pan-tropomyosin receptor kinase inhibitor, zurletrectinib (ICP-723), for treating adults and adolescents with advanced solid tumors harboring neurotrophic tyrosine receptor kinase gene fusions. Read More
Genes associated with lysosomal dysfunction increase the risk of Parkinson’s disease (PD), according to a study led by scientists at Northwestern University. The discovery also explains why some people who carry a pathogenic variant of the GBA1 gene develop PD or dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and others do not. The key lies in the Commander complex, involved in the transport of proteins to this organelle. This discovery raises the need for combinatorial therapies that act on more than one pathway for this type of neurodegenerative disorder. Read More
Biopharmas raising money in public or private financings, including: Aatec, Can-Fite, Cue Biopharma, Glycomine, Heparegenix, Innocan, Preveceutical, Theralase. Read More
Clinical updates, including trial initiations, enrollment status and data readouts and publications: BMS, Entera, Eyestem, Faron, Hoth, Metavia, Plus, Sanofi, Toragen. Read More
Biopharma happenings, including deals and partnerships, grants, preclinical data and other news in brief: Biocon, Boehringer, Catalent, Cellino, Cue Biopharma, Daiichi Sankyo, Invo Fertility, Karis, Lisata, Mural Oncology, Naya, Norgine, Oak Hill, Roche, Regeneron, Rege Nephro, Statera, Syros, Theravia, Tivic Health Systems, Wayfinder. Read More
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Accent, Atsena, Celltrion, Immunitybio, Lyell Immunopharma, Precision, Scilex, Valneva. Read More